The Changing Of Old Habits
by ymasp
Summary: Everyone told her that Gary Smith was a loose cannon, that he had no regards for anyone but himself. And she believed them. But perhaps its the threat of danger that draws some of us in.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

They say that time heals all wounds. To be honest, I suppose in some ways it does. Take for instance, if you get into an argument with your best-friend and never talk again, it will hurt at first; but then after a few months it becomes a dull ache in the background. That being said, time cannot possibly erase the memories. Whether the memory is good or bad, you can never really forget. You may think that you have, but one thing may remind you of it. It could be the smell of a certain cologne, or an old song. Then it all comes back. Every hit, every word, every moment. Every sound. And then painfully or not, you remember.

It's hard to place where it all went downhill. Perhaps it was when my mother told me that my dad left because he didn't want me, or maybe it was when my fourth grade teacher told me I'd get nowhere in life. The list could go on. Somehow, and god knows how, I finally made my own mother give up on me. Her exact words were, "I'm done, Gabrielle. Done. I've found somewhere for you to go, and I don't care if you don't like it. If this doesn't work, they may as well take you out back with a shotgun."

I wasn't too bothered either way. It wasn't like I'd be leaving much behind. I'd lost most of my friends, and my Mom was hardly anything to lose. She _loathed_ me, just like I hated her. Bullworth Academy, is what she told the taxi driver. Of course, she hadn't had the common decency to tell me where _I_ was going, but she told a fat Polish guy who probably didn't even have a drivers licence. Luckily for me, I had heard of the place before. A boarding school, if I'm not mistaken. Made like a fucking prison, to house students who were tougher than prisoners.

The uniform wasn't nice, from what I had seen when I googled it. Some sort of skirt that half of the school doesn't seem to wear, a white shirt, a tie and a green sweater vest? Sounds very fashionable. Uniform wasn't too much of a problem, seeing as I could just alter it to fit my standards. What was a problem though, was the girls I was bound to clash with. Typical cheerleader whores, who are usually fucking the guys on the football team; the nerds, who will leave you alone if you do the same, but if you don't they can be brutal little bastards; the rich kids, and finally the tough girls. I'm not talking the girls who hang around with the tough boys, but the girls who punch first and ask questions later.

I don't think I fit into any of those categories.

Not getting into trouble here will be quite hard, I predict. I have trouble controlling my anger, you see. I'm not saying that I'm the female equivalent to the incredible hulk, but I get very irritated. It probably doesn't help that there was an article in the paper about a certain student from this school. I think his name was something like Gary Smith? The sociopath who tried to conquer the entire school like he's fucking Christopher Columbus or something. Apparently they let him back in, and he's 'stable' now. If going all 'why so serious?' on the school is what they consider as a stable human being, then I'm seriously mentally ill.

Before this one, I went to the other boarding school in district known as 'Great Oak Girls School' which was a pile of crap. It sucked being around so many girls. Not to sound like I crave dick, but I do enjoy the company of males (from time to time) and spending a whole _year_ with a load of stuck up rich girls made me want to kill myself.

After about half an hour of travelling, we arrived at Bullworth. There were large metal gates in front of the school, making it look _all_ the more approachable. I grabbed my bags and got out, not thanking the driver at all. Slowly, I walked over to the gates before a woman wearing a suit appeared out of nowhere.

"Gabrielle. I'm so glad you could make it." She stated condescendingly, opening the gates to let me in. I saw her eyes look me up and down as soon as I was in sight, and a look of disgust took over her features. I was wearing a pair of ripped denim shorts, a pair of converses, a white vest and an oversized flannel shirt.

"That makes one of us, then." I smiled sweetly, as I saw her face fall. Not uttering another word, she beckoned me to follow. And I did, lugging my two backpacks through the sea of watching students. My basic information I had on the school looked pretty accurate. Bullies, jocks, 'tough kids', nerds, preppies and the kids who didn't fit into any. It was currently the day before everyone went back to lessons for another miserable year, so my best guess was that everyone was waiting for any fresh meat. The woman lead me through the school building and into a nicely designed office. It smelled of coffee and the carpet must have been stained with the pure despair of the students who entered.

She knocked on the door, and a gruff voice commanded her to let me in. When I entered, I found a man, suited and booted, writing something down at a rather expensive looking desk. That desk was probably worth more than my life. "The Dalton girl, I assume? Take a seat." He said, not looking up from his paper.

We were sat in silence for a while before he put his pen down and laced his fingers together. "Not the sharpest tool in the toolbox, are you?" he mocked, and I could already feel myself getting annoyed with him.

"Likewise." I replied smoothly.

"Miss Dalton. I would advise you to keep that mouth of yours shut in times like these. We do not take kindly to mouthy little girls." He threatened, before someone opened the door rudely. In the doorway stood a student, I presumed, with brown hair, slightly tanned skin and a jagged scar running through his eyebrow. He was wearing a teal sweater vest, with a white shirt and black pants. I wasn't about to lie, he was a reasonably attractive guy.

"Sorry I'm late." He announced, in a rather smarmy voice. Surprisingly to me, he then took it upon himself to sit down next to me in the other chair. Dr Crabblesnitch just frowned, and quickly wrote something down.

"Mr Smith, you've arrived." He said more to himself than anyone else. And I think that, that was when it finally clicked. I was sat next to Gary fucking Smith. The psychopath who got expelled. The one that everyone was talking about. To avoid confrontation, Dr Crabblesnitch decided to introduce us both at the same time. Of course, Mr Hitler over there got a 'This is your one and only chance' and I got told multiple times to curb my attitude. Before I knew it, we were allowed to go to our dorms and change into our uniforms.

I didn't want anything to do with Gary Smith, neither did I want to get caught up in any fucked up shit that went on in his head, so I walked away from that office as fast as I could. Unfortunately for me, he caught up with me. "So _you're_ the new girl everyone was whispering about." He stated, as he walked in sync with me. People from all directions were staring at us, and I figured being seen with the _literal school psycho_ wasn't the best way to give off the best first impression.

"I am." I replied bluntly, not giving him anything to play off.

Gary chuckled to himself, "Talkative one, aren't you?" I could see the girls dorm about two meters away, and if I could ditch him now, I'd never have to be around that weirdo again. Sadly, I had a feeling that I'd be seeing a lot more of him after today.

"Adiós," I smiled, offering him a flick of my wrist. He didn't reply at all, and as far as I know he went to the boys dorm. I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for the guy, it couldn't be very nice being known as that psycho kid who got sectioned. Sometimes I'm a lucky bastard, this time because I had gotten the privilege of my own bedroom.

After about fifteen minutes of wallowing in self pity on my bed, I unpacked my stuff before getting started on sorting out my uniform. I had been given a dark green tartan skirt, a white shirt, a tie and a dark green jumper with the school badge on it. Not forgetting the knee high socks, of course. Trying it on, I rolled the skirt so it was high enough so I didn't look like a nun, I unbuttoned the top button of my shirt and tied the tie loosely, swapped the white socks for a pair of black ones, and opted for a pair of black vans instead of school shoes. The jumper was decent, I had a choice of a green sweater vest, or a jumper. I opted for the sweater vest.

If I did say so myself, I looked hot.

Now wearing the uniform, I went out to explore properly. After an hour of wandering round, I found myself sitting on the football stand. It hadn't even been a full day and I hated it here. The kids were gross, the teachers were assholes and the only person who had bothered to talk to me was a sociopath. Ever head of the phrase 'talk of the devil?', it was quite relevant in that moment. I felt the presence of another person beside me, and I caught a glimpse of a teal sweater. "Gary." I said out loud.

"I'm surprised. I was expecting you to call me a psychopath and run for your life." He muttered angrily, staring at his shoes.

I shrugged, "That was coming next, Sunshine."

Gary sat back on the bench, looking out onto the empty field. I still felt uncomfortable around the guy, but he didn't seem like he was going to do any immediate damage, so I stayed. After a while I couldn't stop myself from asking the obvious question.

"Why did you do it?"

He turned his head to me, and gave me a smouldering look, so much so that I felt a chill go through me. To my surprise, his face straightened out and he chuckled to himself. "It's sink or swim, _Gabby._ And if you're good at swimming, you gotta let the losers drown. I was doing this school a favour. Do you understand how great this place would be if I was king? God, the possibilities are endless. Trust me, this time I'm not losing." He ranted, and it opened my eyes to something new about this person whom I knew nothing about. He really did believe what he was doing was completely _sane._

"You believe that?" I asked curiously, not maliciously.

He tutted, "All in good time, Gabby. Soon, you will too." And with that, he left, just like he came, instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

One thing that I had learned since spending a full twenty four hours in Bullworth Academy, is how little each and every one of us matters. The only person who's absence would arguably be noticed is a boy named 'Jimmy Hopkins' or something along those lines. From what I've heard about him, he's the king of hell. According to Beatrice, whom I had forced to give me the run down on this place, he was the one that Gary tried to screw over last year.

Beatrice and I were sat on the steps that lead up to the school. Despite it only being September, there was an unmistakable chill in the air which made me ball up my fists and puff hot air into them, acting as temporary warmth. "Beatrice, why did that Gary kid get back in if he tried to take over the school? Surely they wouldn't just re-enrol someone after they almost took the whole place down?"

She made a thinking sound, and pushed her glasses up before looking around to see if anyone was there and lowering her voice to just above a whisper. "You'd be surprised at some of the people at this school, even the teachers. They say it was because of his ADD, and that he's okay now he's been to Happy Volts and is taking his medication again. That's a load of baloney if you ask me. His family didn't want to have to deal with that little sociopath any more, so they persuaded the school to let him stay." Beatrice spat out quickly, looking around nervously after her little rant.

I thought about what she had said for a few seconds. "Surely if he got put into a mental hospital, it wasn't really his fault? The kid was obviously messed up in the head, right?"

Beatrice snorted unattractively, "Please, Gabrielle. He might not right in the head, but he knows what he's doing. Trust me, you don't want to start feeling sorry for him. Just know that everything that Gary Smith has done, and everything he _will_ do is planned to perfection."

And with that, Beatrice hurried off when she was called by a fat kid with his zipper undone. It was currently lunch, and I still had no one to be with. Beatrice had asked me to come to the library with her and her friends, but I certainly didn't want to get the reputation of a nerd, so I politely declined. After sitting out in the cold became too much, I headed inside to try and salvage something edible for lunch. The cafeteria was like a zoo. Tall boys in white shirts, with pimples on their faces were stuffing who I knew was the nerds into bins; the Jock type boys were arm wrestling and the rest of the kids were throwing food around.

Dodging a few flying bananas, I managed to get an apple and escape the zoo. Whilst rushing to make my way out, I walked into someone. Full speed. Both of us stumbled back, and I was just about to lay into this guy about being more careful when I saw that he looked quite harmless and scared. He had short brown hair, was slightly tanned and was wearing the school jumper, with a pink shirt.

"S-sorry… I didn't see you there," he stuttered, and it was actually pretty cute.

I chuckled, "Don't worry about it. What's your name?"

He smiled warmly, and dusted himself off before stretching his hand out to me. "Pete Kowalski." I took his hand and shook it gently, with hope that I may had found someone that wasn't either a complete nerd, or a psychopath.

"Gabrielle Dalton."

I started walking, and as I suspected Pete followed, our footsteps the only sound in the silent hallway. "So you're the new girl, huh?" He announced, more as a statement than a question. I was trying to find a bottle of water that I had put in my locker the day before, even though it would probably be stale by now.

"Indeed. Hey Pete, do you have a bottle of water or something? Kinda dying of dehydration over here." I asked, slamming my locker shut. Pete nodded and pulled a bottle out of his locker, which just so happened to be a few lockers down from mine.

Wandering around for a while lead Pete and I to the library, where we planned to spend the remainder of lunch studying. And all was going well until a _certain condescending_ voice could be heard, and at that point I knew whatever chance of a quiet half an hour we had was gone. "Aren't you two ladies cute together!" Gary announced, now standing at the front of our table.

"Leave us alone, Gary." Pete mumbled, though seeming slightly nervous.

Gary smirked maliciously, "Petey. As glad as I am that you've finally hit puberty, and I mean I'm really happy for you. I was getting quite concerned. Could you try and _control_ your mood swings? I'm feeling quite victimised here. I just wanted to catch up with Gabby, is that too much to ask? Here, I thought her and I were becoming friends!"

I didn't miss a beat. "Well you thought wrong."

He feigned hurt, placing a dramatic hand over his chest and screwing his eyes shut. "I am truly crushed. Although, I would like to talk to you about something. So off you go, femme-boy." Pete gave me an apologetic look, before gathering his stuff and leaving. All whilst Gary just sat facing me, a grin on his face the entire time.

"Well?" I asked.

"I see you've settled in nicely, new girl." Gary said, his voice laced with something I couldn't quite place my finger on. The way he spoke to Pete, the way he completely belittled him made me realise that what Beatrice said about him was true. He was a complete, total utter sociopath, someone whom I wanted nothing to do with.

I sighed, "I'm not here for a welcome to Bullworth speech, so is that all? Can you go kick some puppies instead or something?"

"Hostility will get you nowhere, Gabby. Actually, I'm here because I require your assistance. You seem to be a relatively intelligent girl, not as intelligent as I am, of course. But you just about pip Jimmy, so I'll give you a chance." Gary remarked, swinging back on his chair.

"I'm _flattered_. I have no wish to help you, Gary. I'm not getting caught up in any of the psychotic shit you like to do." I explained, offering him a sweet smile at the end that only caused his smirk to widen. Almost like I was playing into his game perfectly, the only bad thing being that I didn't know how not to.

Gary chuckled, standing up and coming closer to where I was sat. "Well, Gabby. It looks like the only friends you've made in the past two days are Beatrice, the nerdiest girl in school who happens to be covered in cold-sores; femme-boy, and me. To be honest, I think I'm probably your best bet at becoming someone in this school. So what'dya say, huh?"

I came to a realisation that there was no way he could have known about my friendship with Beatrice, seeing as I had only spoken to her once. "Wait, how do you know that I'm friends with Beatrice?"

"I see everything, I hear everything, I _know_ everything. I'm also liking the way you tried to stand up for me, it was very-" He explained, before I interrupted him.

"Shut the fuck up." I growled, slamming my book shut and standing up. "What do you even need 'assistance' with?" I asked, putting air quotations on the word. Gary grinned and started to walk off, beckoning for me to follow with a flick of his wrist. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to stop the bitter chill of the air from reaching me completely.

Gary eventually took me to the boys dorm, but just when he was about to enter I paused. "I don't know if you've realised this, but I'm a _girl._ You know, I don't have a penis and all? I'm not going in there to be harassed by a load of sexually frustrated sixteen year olds who have never seen a pair of boobs before!" I said just loud enough for him to hear.

He rolled his eyes in response, "It's lesson time. No one's here. Now will you hurry up? I'm on a tight schedule."

I snorted, "Tight schedule my ass." but nevertheless, I followed him into the boys dorm. It was run down, and smelled vaguely of dirty socks. Much different to the girls dorm, but it did have video games and a vending machine, a plus side. I saw Gary enter what I assumed to be his room, so I followed.

To my surprise, his room was quite neat. Two beds housed the room, both with black sheets on, and a few posters scattering the wall above them. Gary sat at his desk, before spinning round on the chair to where I was standing. Deciding it was far too much effort to stand, I lay down flat on my back on Gary's bed. "What are you doing?" he asked, but I could hear a slight flicker of humour to his voice.

"Lying down. Now get talking, Hitler. I'm on a tight schedule." I mocked, before sitting up and leaning my back against the wall.

There was a moments silence before he spoke, "I'm- I mean, we're going to take down the jocks."

"The jocks? You mean the big bastards that'll kick your ass if you even step foot on the field? Are you insane?" I asked in astonishment. Perhaps this guy really was as crazy as everyone said he was. In theory, wasn't this the same thing he did last year?

"Uh-huh! Now listen, I need you to befriend Mandy. You know, the girl all of the jocks masturbate over after football practise? Usually wears the cheer-leading outfit? You get the picture. Anyway, I need you to get some _real_ dirt on her. I'm talking, stuff that she'd take to the grave to prevent anyone knowing." He explained, but it was all said in such an aggressive manor, it left no room for argument.

I pulled a bland face, "Why the hell would someone like _that_ be friends with someone like _me_? Plus, how will me getting shit on her affect the jocks at all?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? She's their queen. If we take her down, they'll go down with her. And to be honest, she's sucked all of their dicks anyway, so if that got out it'd be _horrendous_."

"Why do I have to do it? Why not make some other girl do it." I complained.

He shrugged, "New girl, new chances. Why shouldn't I get the new psycho girl to do my dirty work for me?"

"Psycho, me? I'm not the one on medication, pal."

Gary's face darkened, "Watch your mouth, _Gabby._ "

Without realising how sexual it sounded, I replied without thinking. "Make me." which was quite possibly, the minute where everything turned to shit.

Gary's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he started at me more intently. "Don't tempt me." he replied, his voice lowered dangerously, and suddenly the room became a lot warmer than it was before. "Sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a butter-knife." he muttered, still staring at me creepily.

"Shut up, Gary."

After a while I finally left, but I had a strong feeling of dread in my stomach. I should have listened to Beatrice when she told me to stay away from that psycho. Of course, he hadn't done anything terrible to me, and he was _quite_ attractive, but I knew he'd fuck me over at some point. I liked to class myself as a headstrong girl. So I don't think that playing mind games with the school sociopath would be awful, would it?

And this, my friends, is the story of how Gary Smith and I caused the ultimate downfall of Bullworth. Only at this point, I didn't know quite what I was getting into.


End file.
